Craziest thing a potential employer has asked you to do

Dear Penthouse: It was just another job interview, I thought as I settled into the chair, but then Ms. Deekupps, the smoking-hot hiring manager with a body by Victoria's Secret, locked the door, turned to me with a smile and asked me if I had any special skills ...

 

I've done it.

 

I think many of us have done it. It's not that big of a deal.

 

No. I mean I've done it without being asked.

 

When I was hiring, I would have the applicant interview someone in the office-- the news clerk, circulation manager, etc. -- then write a profile.

It showed what they could do and I got feedback from the interview subject on how the applicant was with his/her questioning.

At another paper, we had an applicant who came in on the day of a huge fire, and she was sent out with a couple other reporters. Always felt bad for her, as she certainly wasn't dressed for the assignment.

 

Not so much I was asked to do anything crazy but I remember one of the strangest interviews I ever had started when the sports editor picked me up from the hotel the first morning and we headed straight to the laundry mat. Turns out a stray cat he had taken in had pissed on his son's new white comforter and he didn't want his ex-wife to find out. So here I am in my suit helping dude fold this huge ass comforter. I ended up getting the job and he was cool boss and is still a good friend to this day. But he hasn't been a sports editor since.

 

Yeah.. dress clothes and a fire scene do not mix.

 

Got an interview (but not an offer) a few years ago to do marketing for a NASCAR merchandise website. To get to that stage, I had to call the number listed in the ad and leave a 2-3 minute message on the machine explaining why I would be great for the job. The owner is now head of the county commission and every bit as batshit crazy as his predecessors.

 

I've done a drug test on an interview as well. In this case, it was 2/3 of the way across the country, so I assume that made more sense. They were also going to offer me the job as long as I didn't show up to the interview with three heads, so that probably contributed.

 

Did she get the job?

 

I had one place where they flew me in and then after a couple hours of interviews, I was told I was being sent to a MLB game to write a gamer for the next morning's paper. I didn't mind doing it as much as I minded not being told that I was going to have to do it. I had told my SE and assigning editor that I was interviewing, but I didn't know I was going to have a byline that was going to make it obvious to anybody who saw it that I was interviewing...

The SE at the paper who was interviewing me was apologetic about it but said they'd had issues with a couple hires who had good clips, but found out later that they were usually pretty heavily edited.

I think my biggest issue was that they didn't tell me ahead of time. It worked out, I got the job and five years later they ended my journalism career.

 

For my first job, I had to take a general sports knowledge test. I got 38 of 40 right. I would guess that 35 of the questions would fall into the easy to ridiculously easy category. The two I missed were both olympic-related, which was funny because one of the first major events I covered there was the Olympics, which I went as a last-minute replacement.